Saturday, November 3, 2012

ON EVE OF CPC CONGRESS, CHINA EXAMINES ITS DIGITAL IMAGE

B.RAMAN

What the people think of their leadership and
government will be increasingly reflected not in the traditional print and TV
media, but in the digital media and in the blogs and micro-blogs of the digital
world. The digital image of China in the international net community will
increasingly influence governmental and non-governmental perceptions of China.
Future prejudices of China will be born not in the columns of the print media
and in the radio and TV reports, but in the mushrooming blogs and micro-blogs
of the digital world. It is important for leaders and policy-makers to pay
attention to what is being discussed in the digital world and to be able to
interact with the digital world. Future stability will depend not only on what
happens in the real world, but also on what happens in the digital world.

2. These are some of the features of the world of
the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) being
highlighted by the analysts of the prelude to the Congress which is starting at
Beijing on November 8,2012. An article by Dennis Pamlin of 21st New Frontiers,
a consultancy organization in Sweden, carried by the “China Daily” on November
2,2012, says:

“In the coming years China's image will be
increasingly shaped in a connected world, a world in which people will not only
be passive consumers of information, many of them will be active providers of
information through different social media. In a connected world people will
trust their social networks more than traditional media, and the social
networks with the most trust will create a virtual image of China.

“This digital image of China will be determined by
the images, stories, comments, blogs and videos posted online, rather than
through the print media, television and radio. So China must pay attention to
its "digital twin".

“In a connected world it is no longer enough to do
good things and tell people about them, it is also necessary to engage in
dialogue with people around the world. If China does not engage in these
dialogues, its digital twin will end up distorted.

“We are rapidly moving into a hyper-connected
society where transparency and enormous amounts of information are creating new
opportunities and new challenges. In order to overcome the challenges and seize
the opportunities it is important that China, and those with an understanding
of China, explore new ways to encourage dialogue so that its digital twin is
not shaped to suit others' agendas.”

3. According to the “China Daily”, on November
1,2012, many party functionaries opened their own micro-blogs in their real
names and started interacting directly with party cadres and people. One of
those who has thus started interacting is Yu Zhengsheng, Secretary of the
Shanfghai Municipal Committee of the CPC and a member of the CPC Politbureau,
who is being tipped to join the new Standing Committee of the Politbureau as
one of its seven members.

4. In a message posted on his micro-blog, he said: "It
is the responsibility, instead of the power, that the official position gives
to us. We're not special. We cannot be above the law. Assuming the
responsibility of serving the people is the key of an official's work.”
According to the “China Daily”, this is not the first time he is directly
interacting through the web with party cadres andthe general public. He has been doing it
before.

5.Zhang Qingli, secretary of the Hebei Provincial
Committee of the CPC, said in his microblog: "We should provide a chance
for people who have a desire to work, a stage for people with working
capabilities, and important posts for those who have had achievements before. What
we should do is to encourage diligent officials, criticize the ones who can
only deliver lip service, and deal with those who create disorder on our team.
We cannot arrange idle positions and feed idlers. The key is to implement what
we say in conferences and write on documents."

6.Zhang Baoshun, secretary of the Anhui Provincial
Committee of the CPC, microblogged:“Officials at all levels should be modest and
close to the public. Our posts and power are not for showing off. We'd better
have more closeness to residents and avoid bureaucracy. As for fact-finding
trips to grassroots areas, high-level officials should not ask people to
accompany them. Instead, we should dispense with all unnecessary formalities,
and not burden and disturb local people."

7. The China Daily has quoted Zhou Xiaopeng, Deputy
Editor-in-Chief of Sina, an online microblogging service, as saying that though
many Chinese officials and governmental departments began to use micro blogs to
interact with netizens two years ago, "it is only now that so many
high-level officials interact with Web users via a popular online platform.”

8. In addition to encouraging the party
functionaries and officials to use the social media sites for direct and
continuous interactions with party cadres and the public, the Chinese
Government has also been closely monitoring the use of these sites by foreign
embassies in Beijing for digital interactions with the people in order to influence
their perceptions.

9.The “China Daily” reported on November 3,2012:

“ The micro blogs have become an important platform
for foreign governments to promote public diplomacy in China and pose an
increasing influence on China's Internet, said the first research report on
foreign governments' micro blogs in China, which was released on Friday. (
November 2)

“According to the report, the number of foreign
government micro blogs surged in 2011, bringing the total by the end of June to
165 on the top four micro-blogging sites - Sina, Tencent, Netease and Sohu. Those
of the United States and Britain were the most influential, said the report. "These
micro blogs have cast enormous influence on the Chinese public, especially the
Chinese netizen. The foreign governments promote not only their culture,
education and tourism resources through the micro blogs, but also forge close
interaction with Chinese netizens and opinion leaders on ideology," said
Zhang Zhi'an, associate professor of the School of Communication and Design
under Sun Yat-sen University. "Social media evokes public passion to talk
about some serious issues which we don't often talk about in our daily life,
and that's the way these foreign governments' micro blogs influence Chinese
netizens in a subtle way that they didn't even notice," said Zhang, who
led the research.

10.A t\rigidly-controlled State like China has
realised the importance of direct interactions between policy-makers and social
media users for perception management, for identifying and addressing the
grievances of the people and for creating a greater level of trust and comfort
between the people and the leadership. Because of our over-cautious and
conservative policies relating to the use of social media networks for direct
and active interaction with the people, we in India continue to treat them more
as a source of danger than as an asset for building public confidence in the
leadership and the policy-makers. There is an urgent need for a change in our
attitudes and policies. ( 4-11-12)